Living Car Free - How do you lock up your bike?

Most of the places I go do not have bike racks. If you went to a grocery store without a bike rack would you just lock it to a post? I've left my bike unlocked before but prefer not to do that. I was thinking maybe I could lock it to a shopping cart or possibly throw my bike in a cart and push it around the store...what do you do?

Do a forum search on locks, there are many, many, threads on how to lock up.

Just use a U-lock and lock it to anything immobile and highly visible to passers-by, and you'll most likely be okay. U-locks can be defeated, especially if they have long shafts, but they're way better than anything else I know of. A determined thief will be able to steal your bike if he really wants it, but there's no reason to make it easy for him.

Having just had a bike stolen 3 weeks ago, I've altered my locking technique.

I used to have a long shaft kryptonite lock. No more. While I found the short krytonite locks to be somewhat inconvenient when you can't get your bike right up against the thing you're locking to, their added security is worth the hassle.

What's more, though, I now carry 2 locks. By locking up my bike twice I make my bike an unattractive theft option for thieves because it'll take twice as long as the bike next to me (my apologies to the bike next to me, of course).

I wrote an article on best practices for locking your bike here: http://austinbikeblog.org/?p=269

I usually use one U-lock, but today I used that and a cable lock because I had to leave it in a somewhat rural area for a couple of hours. No racks, so I U-locked it to a signpost.

I don't like bike racks, as most are flimsy or poorly designed for proper locking. I prefer beefy steel poles set in concrete, such as the "traditional" parking meter. I put a five pound u-lock around the rear wheel, just behind the seat tube, and the steel pole. I put a two pound u-lock around the front wheel and the frame.

If I'm going to be away from my bike more than fifteen minutes or so, I ride a "beater" bike that crooks recognize as impossible to sell at a pawn shop. I try to park as close to shiny new Cannondales as possible, especially those that are locked with only a $5 cable lock....which bike will the crook take?

I'm afraid I have only a cable lock. I'm not really interested in dragging a heavy lock around, so what I normally do is this: if I have to leave my bike for any period of time (like over 10 minutes...) I take the worse bike I have. That way, if...when... it happens, I have only lost my beater.

U-locks don't do me much good because there is only one set of bike racks in my town (the new Wallgreens has two staple racks). I usually lock my bike to one of the trees that line downtown and need a chain to do that.

I have my wheels, fork, and seat post secured with Pit-locks. I wrap my NY Krypto chain around a tree and lock it to the top tube.

Use the search function; this has been covered lots.

I use a Fahgeddaboutit lock on the back wheel through the frame to the rack, then an 18mm cable through the u-lock, frame, and front wheel. Generally, different tools are needed to defeat each, increasing the hassle factor for thieves. A good angle grinder will go through about anything, though. Since I ride a cheap bike and lock this way next to trendy and expensive bikes, I'm not too worried.

I use an Onguard Mini Pitbull Duo, with the ulock going around the wheel and rack (Sheldon style) and the cable going through my seat. I use a cable lock around the front wheel and frame. If I am at a place that does not have any bike racks I will lock it in one of four places: 1. Railings/iron fences that have thick columns into concrete 2. cart return 3. 'no parking' sign in concrete 4. around a tree. At school when I leave my bike for most of the day I use an Onguard Beast chain lock on the front wheel and frame instead of the cable. I am able to leave that there, so I don't have to carry it all the time.

Most of the places I go do not have bike racks. If you went to a grocery store without a bike rack would you just lock it to a post? I've left my bike unlocked before but prefer not to do that. I was thinking maybe I could lock it to a shopping cart or possibly throw my bike in a cart and push it around the store...what do you do?

Bike racks are a great place to lose bikes. Every two months, we hear another bike rack horror story on the forum. Why? It's pretty simple. If you want to steal bikes, you go to where the bikes are. Racks!

If you don't believe me, go to a train station and look at all the broken locks, bikes with missing wheels, saddles etc. It's a sad comment but it's those crooks riding bikes who make the racks unusable.

My solution is simple. Hide the bike and use a good U-lock or chain. While it is true, if a crook sees your bike, they can work on it stealing it without being noticed. Yet, this rarely happens. I can't remember the last time a forum member lost their bike while it was hidden behind some bushes. Seriously. I've hidden bike bike behind malls, dumpsters and bushes and nothing happened. The only time my bike was attacked was when I used a bike rack.

However, crooks can operate on your bike in Times Square and NO ONE will say a thing. You can steal a bike at the World Trade Center or Downtown London in front of a police station. There are U-Tube videos showing people stealing bikes in the most crowded of places and no one did a thing and only a few asked questions. It's a myth that having your bike exposed will prevent theft because the cooks ALWAYS operate in the open. They already know no one will do a thing! Trust me, having your bike exposed in front of everyone attached to a bike rack or stop sign will attract a lot of crooks.